Although the SILVA SCREEN logo appears on the artwork of this album it is
not an actual SILVA release. It was recorded by SILVA SCREEN in a specific
commission for Rock Records of Taiwan - hence the featuring of Taiwanese
film music. (Rock licenses products from SILVA for distribution in the Far
East.) Rock Records chose all the material for all the tracks. The album
ventures into a musical world which is, despite the title, from a Western
perspective, largely unfamiliar. Of the 12 films featured, only two Farewell
to my Concubine, and A Chinese Ghost Story received any notable
UK distribution, while one or two of the other titles have appeared on late
night television. The album is therefore most welcome, presenting as it does
some most attractive music which many listeners would doubtless otherwise
miss.

I happen by rare chance to have the soundtrack album for A City of
Sadness, so I can confirm that the version on this new album is very
much an arrangement of the theme. The piece has been extended and orchestrated
in rich and lavish colours, and wonderfully attractive it is too, with a
long, arching melody, something along the lines of The Last Emperor. I can
only therefore assume that the other pieces featured here have been similarly
re-arranged. I say assume, because unhappily there is no English language
information about the music other than a list of the titles and the films
they come from. [I understand that Rock Records brief to SILVA SCREEN was
to have the songs arranged for full symphony orchestra in a combination of
"John Barry meets Classic Rock" style, whilst still retaining the characteristics
of the original songs - editor].

The jewel-case comes inside a cardboard slipcase, with an oversize booklet
akin to those found with some upmarket classical releases. The booklet contains
a lot of writing, in both Chinese and English. As well as a long introduction
not translated into English, the Chinese text includes separate notes about
the films and/or the composers. However, the English notes say nothing about
either. Nowhere on the entire package are the composer's names even given
in English. There are detailed biographies (complete with colour photographs)
of the album's producer and two conductors (whose names change between the
cover and the booklet) but there are no details about the Chinese/Taiwanese
composers. [The booklet was prepared by Rock Records and we understand that
SILVA SCREEN did not participate at all in this process, not even proof checking
which would have caught the hilarious miss-spellings of Nic Raine! The exclusion
of details about the composers but inclusion of details about the SILVA
production team was determined by Rock Records - editor]

The surprise in the second track, the 'Main Title' from C'est La Vie, Mon
Cherie, is that it sounds entirely Western, both in composition and
orchestration. It is a gorgeous saxophone-led waltz, almost the sort of thing
John Barry might written had he scored Murder on the Orient Express.
If this is faithful to the original it demonstrates how Western musical forms
have been assimilated into Oriental music, while, rather oddly, the melody
re-appears in the track 'Bygone Love' from Farewell to my Concubine.
Several other tracks have no especial 'Chinese' sound, while 'Blue Sea Laughter'
from Swordsman is perhaps more expectedly 'oriental', offering lyrically
pastoral harps and wooden flute, and 'Actress' from Burial of Heart
movingly combines East and West.

Throughout, this album has a luxurious, sumptuous sound, with every track
distinctly melodic (sometimes melodramatically so) and enjoyable in its own
right, offering an answer to those who argue that modern films no longer
have memorable themes. Here is a whole disc full of memorable, rapturously
romantic, haunting and uplifting 'big' film tunes. They may not be 'authentic',
but they combine to make for an immensely enjoyable hour of listening. Roll
on volume 2, this time with the composer's credited and some decent English
language notes.